Cant figure out what angle to cut crown moulding

People,

I Have a compound mitre saw, and tried a cut at 45 deg (inside corner), but it still doesnt fit right. What am I doing wrong? I heard from a lumber yard guy it should be a single cut on a mitre saw, at a "strange" angle. What is the mystery angle, and other details? Any youtubes available could be helpful- so far, I couldnt find one.....

Cant figure out what angle to cut crown moulding

if you have a compound miter then there should be crown adjustments on the fence slide and the blade angle slide, 31.9 - 33.9 or something close to that and you cut the crown with it laying down flat on it's backside. other wise just put your crown upside down bedded on the saw slide base and back stop and use the little flat 3/8" of the crown to determine if it's bedded and cut with the saw set at 45 degrees to get inside and outside corners. use a sharpie and make a dot on the saw base where the bed is so you know it is bedded every time or get crown stops that bed it for you. outside corners the blade cuts to the crown profile leaving the profiled edge showing to the furthest point of the cut and inside corners the blade cuts to the back of the crown leaving the back flat part showing at the furthest point of the cut.

Cant figure out what angle to cut crown moulding

crown supplies the installer hours of entertainment cutting and installing.
You need to cut it upside down first of all. You see on a outside corner, the top juts out from the bottom.
To achieve this, you need to put the bottom side up on your saw and when you cut the 45, the top which is on the bottom of the saw table becomes the long point.

You need to set the crown on the table of the saw the same way it will sit on the wall before cutting. Since it is upside down, the bottom on the fence and the top on the table.
I usually just take a couple of short pieces about 12" long, I set it against the fence and table, and cut a inside and a outside corner on each piece. This allows me to see both ends are sitting in position before cutting because is only 12" long.
I then draw a line on the fence with my pencil. Now when I have a long 16' piece on the saw, I can line it up with the pencil mark I drew on the fence.
If you do not have a mark to go by, you move one piece up a bit when cutting, the adjoining piece down a hair when cutting, the joint will not line up perfectly. Cause you more work.

I use the short 12" pieces I made with inside and outside corners, to test fit a corner before cutting the real piece. You can hold them in place and if the drywall is off, you will see it and can adjust the 45 degree cut by a few degrees one way or the other to get a better fit.

By all means, be patient and have fun ... or we will have to start calling it work

Cant figure out what angle to cut crown moulding

thanks, people! yes, I did find those marked angles on the saw! I screwed up a few cuts already....LOL . But have loads of moulding- HD screwed up and send me double what I needed! I have a fear I will need tripple!

Now, that video is great. I didnt know one can get away with a 45 deg cut- I thought one has to cut with the 31.9 and 33.85 on the saw guide graduations. I will try that tomorrow.......Whew.

Cant figure out what angle to cut crown moulding

Joe that is so true, I make minor mistakes with framing or foundation work ... nothing that will not pass code, just a gotcha because the last time I did this was 6 months ago and time before that was another 6 months.

If all we did was one thing we would do it well, that would be boring.

Cant figure out what angle to cut crown moulding

That's always been a problum in my area.
We call it the promise land. Everone promises to show up and never does.
I'm not going to get paid to build an addition, pump house whatever until the mason shows up.
No show then I'll do it.
Got the building built and the roofer is a no show then I'll do it.
I used to hire some far faster to me to install crown.
Got tired of having to pay them all that money for a few hours work so I had to figure it out.

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Cant figure out what angle to cut crown moulding

OK, thinking about is more, isnt the EASIEST concept the coping saw method? I mean, almost fool proof? Yes, tedious cutting around the edge, but I can follow that. The angles are driving me crazy.

coping it involves learning how as well. if you plan to cope and since you have a compound miter plan on cutting the angles on the saw anyway and then cope to the crown profile. this saves a lot of thick cutting with the coping saw because you cut out half of the meat with the miter saw.

to clear up your confusion about the 31.9 -33.9, the little flat sections that are on the backside of the crown top and bottom that nest to the wall make the 31.9 and 33.9 work. that does not work with all crown just the most standard crown- some crown will sit on a more vertical plane while others will have more of a horizontal placement thereby changing the 31.9,33.9 degree Angle.those angles only work on your saw when you lay the crown on the flat and not bedded. I've used saws that the angle adjustments were wrong so I bedded a test piece and cut the 45 degree angle and used that cut piece as a pattern to set the saw, just put the piece on the saw and slide it to the blade(not running, just a dry test) while adjusting the blade until the blade matched perfectly with the test piece. this is especially helpful when cutting non standard crown and the crown clicks do not work. by the way, cutting on the flat is the only way I do it- there is no chance when I get to the job that I'm trying to bed 16' crown upside down while it flops all around and crown stops take much to long. setting on the flat allows for quick clean cuts and on the spot adjustments to the angle and miter and you can tag the adjustments for later by reading the points and noting them. try adjusting crown cuts on the bed upside down, I've done it long ago and it involved trying to shimmy the crown up in the air or move it out away from the base,directing the helper to hold it still etc.. ugghhh.

even if you cope you have to deal with outside corners, so take the time and learn the angles and bevels...you will be glad you did

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